BENGALURU: A woman doctor, who boarded an Ola cab at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Friday night, realised shortly that he was an impersonator and reached out to the emergency helpline 112 later. The police arrived promptly and rescued her. She filed a detailed police complaint at the airport police station and the driver Basavaraj has been arrested.
In a post on X on November 9, she said, “Almost got trafficked/raped/looted/assaulted by a random cabdriver who was let in by @Blrairport in the Ola pick-up station and impersonated to be one at Terminal 1 of Bengaluru airport at 10.30 pm. Had I not called 112, I’d not be here typing this.”
The post went viral with 2.5 million views and generated much public engagement.
In her police complaint filed a day earlier, the doctor narrated that she arrived at KIA’s T1 from Delhi and made an Ola booking on her phone. Shortly, driver Basavaraj arrived in a sedan, while she had booked a mini cab. When she asked him about the car model, he said it was okay and he would drop her.
He then asked her to reach pick up point No. 1 of the Ola pick-up station. “As soon as I got in the car, he didn’t ask for my Ola OTP number. I kept telling him the OTP to which he did not respond. After travelling 700 metres, he asked me to enter the location on his phone which I did,” her complaint said.
While the fare on the app showed Rs 1,300, the driver said he needed Rs 1,500 as he was taking her in a “luxurious sedan”. The doctor refused to pay more and asked him to drop her back to the Ola pick-up station, but he kept driving ahead. When she asked him where he was taking her, Basavaraj told her his friend would come in a mini-car and accept the fare of Rs 1,300. He then stopped at a petrol bunk and ordered her to pay Rs 500 for the fuel claiming his payment app was not working. Worried, the doctor who was on a call with a family member shared her location with him and also called up 112 and explained the situation and gave her location.
The driver realised she had reached out to the police and agreed to drop her back at the pick-up station. The doctor shared her live location too with police who arrived at T1 within 20 minutes and took him into custody. Her complaint added that he might be drunk or under the influence of a substance.